Recovery
by melindamayed
Summary: When an injury forces May into a leave, Coulson volunteers to look out for her. However, things don't go as smooth as Coulson thought it would be, especially because it's the Melinda May that he's dealing with and there happens to be a bioterror weapon on the loose.
1. Prologue

SUMMARY: When an injury forces May into a leave, Coulson volunteers to look out for her. However, things don't go as smooth as Coulson thought it would be, especially because it's the Melinda May that he's dealing with.

PROLOGUE

_The mission was supposed to be easy._

The plan was Ward, May, and Simmons would infiltrate the lab while Skye would work with the cameras and the security systems of the site on the Bus. May was going to accompany Simmons as she secured the vials of the potential bioweapon and retrieve necessary files regarding it from the back end of the lab while Ward was to deal with any guards that would come up front, then the three of them are to evacuate immediately after Ward rigs the site to blow.

But of course in S.H.I.E.L.D., everything goes perfectly during the briefing. What happens afterwards, on the other hand…

* * *

Another face collided with her fist and the guard was instantly unconscious. No five minutes has passed since May and Simmons entered the facility with Ward trailing behind them. Jemma clutched the small plastic cooler that she was holding to her chest as they silently made their way through the long hallway. The lights were bright above them, and Simmons couldn't help but remember the laboratories in the Academy through the white walls and the tiled floors. _Well, at least in the Academy I'm confident of my safety. Here on the other hand…_

Simmons made a nervous gulp and an uneasy sigh escaped her lips.

The glass door to the lab greeted them as they reached the end of the hall. Skye notified Ward through his earpiece that the fingerprint scanner was already disabled and they were good to go. May pushed the door open and entered the lab with Simmons while Ward stayed behind as planned.

Simmons ran to the file cabinet northeast of the entrance and rummaged through the folders. "What are we supposed to look for?" May appeared at Simmons' side.

"Everything related to the BTN-4, the Norway experiments dated April 2012, and all the experiments done by a Dr Marcus Richards last year," Simmons replied.

After the two got all the folders they needed, Simmons booted up the PC beside the cabinet and pulled out a flash drive from her pants pocket. The system required a password to proceed.

"Skye," said May through her com device, "can you crack the password of the PC here in the lab from there?"

The password prompt disappeared from the screen immediately. "Consider it done," said Skye.

The amount of information in front of her overwhelmed Simmons. Images from the trials. Predicted infectivity rate. Statistics on the possible lethality rate. There was so much information but she had no time to browse them all right now.

Simmons clicked on a document. "They were planning to unleash the bioweapon in Chicago, Tokyo, and Rio simultaneously in five weeks' time." She continued to scroll down the file. "With its infectivity rate, the 45% of the exposed population in those areas would be infected in the next 24 to 36 hours and I suspect that it would be extremely lethal because of the fact that they used alien DNA."

"Did it say anything about why they chose those three locations?" asked May. Simmons shook her head as she plugged in her flash drive in the computer, copying all the files in the process. "Not at all. They could have targeted more populated cities so there must be something special about those three." She pulled out her flash drive once the files were copied and turned to the freezer at the opposite end of the lab. "Now the BTN-4…"

The freezer was filled with a multitude of flasks, beakers, and test tubes and Simmons scoured through them to find the lethal liquid they need. Simmons spotted 24 test tubes of a yellow liquid encased in two plastic test tube racks at the back end of the freezer. The labels read BTN-4.

Carefully, she reached for the rack, but right after she lifts one of the racks, the alarm inside the lab goes off. The florescent lights went out and everything was bathed with pale red light.

"Skye, I thought you disabled all the alarms?" Simmons was beginning to panic while she was trying to be as careful as she could be in putting the test tubes in the cooler.

"I did!" Simmons was having a hard time in understanding her words due to the loudness of the sirens. "But it seems like the lab itself has an independent security system, hidden in all the crap of the security system of the whole building. Give me a few minutes here."

Outside, Ward was already fighting off three uniformed men, but reinforcements keep on coming.

And just before Simmons shuts the door of the freezer, two flasks of a red liquid catches her eye. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that it was also labelled as BTN-4. "They engineered another strain," she concluded.

"It's another strain," she concluded.

"Simmons, we have to go _now_." May placed a hand on her forearm.

"I have to get these too," she pointed at the flasks, "These two can also contain two different strains of the bioweapon. I can't leave them here." May nodded.

Only by then did the alarm finally shut down, but it was too late. The back door of the lab swung open and five guards enter the room. May cursed under her breath. "I'll hold them off. Get those flasks as quick as you can," she said to Simmons.

She knocked one of the men down with the single kick and proceeded to disarm the next. One. Two. Three. A flurry of punches and kicks were thrown, and May sends three of the guards lying on their backs, unconscious. As more of them poured into the lab, Simmons stayed behind May, keeping her distance, keeping the cooler as close to her as possible.

May sends two men out cold again, but a new set of guards had also arrived. And as one of them tries to throw a punch at May, another was attempting to hurl a lab stool at Simmons, who was frozen in place.

Seeing this, May instantly finished off her opponent at hand, and ran in front of Simmons, raising her arm to take the blow. May quickly recovered. After a series of kicks, the man was down.

May turned to Simmons, clutching her arm. "It's better if we'd just wait for Agent Ward outside." And with that, the two of them ran to the exit.


	2. Chapter 1

A/N – The story is turning out to be more challenging that I initially thought it would be, so I'm doing a lot of reading to keep up with my plans. Hopefully, the story would turn out okay.

* * *

CHAPTER 1

The Bus has remained on autopilot even it has been hours since the three agents returned from the mission. The Bus was still heading to New York City as planned and was scheduled to land in approximately three hours. However, the cockpit was uncharacteristically empty, to Coulson's surprise. May was nowhere to be found.

* * *

Coulson headed down to the lab to check on Simmons and the BTN-4. The doors were completely locked when he arrived. He rapped at the glass thrice. Hearing this, Simmons sets down the test tube and the glass dropper she had at hand before heading out.

"How's the BTN-4?" asked Coulson, as he followed Simmons back to her working area.

"It's still in the freezer, sir. I've been dying to work on it since we arrived, but I've decided to wait until we're grounded and I'm at a S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility with all the equipment I'd need. From what the files we got in the lab, the BTN-4 is _really_ something and I don't want to unleash that monster while we're flying thousands of feet up in the air," she replied.

"So what were you working on, then?" he pointed at the glassware Simmons was using a while ago.

"It also says in the files that BTN-4 is a bacterial strain that looks and behaves a lot like _Mycobacterium tuberculosis, _or the bacteria that causes tuberculosis, since it's an improved version of the bacteria to divide faster, be more infective, and be generally be more dangerous than its predecessor. So since the genome of MTB has been fully sequenced, I'm making revised formulations of the BCG vaccine that could possibly cure the BTN-4, just in case we'd ever need one."

Coulson nodded. He was already informed that whoever was or were behind the BTN-4 planned to attack on three cities – Tokyo, Chicago, and Rio de Janeiro. Considering the population of these cities, he could imagine the disastrous effect BTN-4 would have. While they already have the BTN-4 at hand at they already destroyed the facility where it was, two other facilities in still unknown locations in the United States still have the bioweapon and S.H.I.E.L.D. is still racing against the clock to prevent the bioterror attacks from happening.

"Have you seen Agent May?" he asked. Simmons shook her head. "I haven't seen her since we got back, sir."

* * *

The cockpit was still empty when he came back to check if she was already there. Coulson went to the other areas in the Bus where May could probably be, but much to his avail, May wasn't there. He knocked on the door of her quarters, but didn't receive any response.

He was going back to the cockpit once again when he remembered that he hasn't been to the kitchen just yet.

Needless to say, relief washed over him as he saw her standing in front of the sink with her back facing him.

"May," he called out, and she turned around to face him. She held a bag of ice against her right arm. Coulson immediately rushes towards her in concern.

"What happened?" May remained silent.

"_May,_" said Coulson, forcefully. "What happened to your arm?"

She shrugged. "I took a bad hit," she replied, taking a seat on one of the dining chairs. "It's nothing to worry about."

Coulson took a chair and sat in front of her. "Let me see it." May placed the bag of ice on top of the table and hesitantly drew her arm to Coulson so he could examine it.

She instantly winced as Coulson lifted her sleeve above her injury. May's arm swelled, and the deformation of her arm became evident now that her sleeve was not there to cover it up anymore.

"We have to have Simmons put your arm up in a sling," May grabbed her improvised ice pack from the table and placed it on her arm again.

"She's working on the BTN-4. There's no need to bother her, Coulson. I could handle my arm until we –"

"_Melinda_, your arm needs to be in a sling, and you know it. You're coming with me to the lab so she could help you with that, got it?"

May followed Coulson out of the kitchen and down to the lab with her jaws clenched.

* * *

Simmons ended up cutting a large square out of one of her lab coats as the Bus wasn't equipped with any splinting equipment. "This is my fault," She turned to May as she folded the square cloth in half, making a triangle. "That guy wouldn't have hit you if it wasn't for me."

May shook her head in response. "I was only doing my job, Simmons. I was there with you to handle the guards while you while you retrieve the bioweapon."

Simmons sighed. "But you didn't have to get hurt if I'd just defended myself," she muttered under her breath.

Fitz entered the lab as Simmons was tying the ends of the cloth behind May's neck. "What happened to Agent May?"

"She broke her arm during the last mission," Coulson answered.

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Fitz, walking towards Simmons' direction.

"The sling would only prevent further damage, but we'd have to get her to a hospital as soon as possible," said Simmons. "May, I'm really sorry…"

May placed her free hand on Simmon's shoulder. "There's no point in blaming yourself for this. This is not your fault."

"You'd better rest, May," The three agents turned to Coulson. "I'd be notifying HQ that we'd be landing in New York on autopilot. Any unnecessary movement would only make your arm worse. You can stay here, with FitzSimmons, or you can rest in your room, but there's no way you're going back to the cockpit, understand?"

May resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The two's interaction made FitzSimmons share a look.

May estimated that they'd be landing in less than two hours. However, she still had a _long_ trip ahead of her.

While Coulson exited the lab and headed back to the Command Center, FitzSimmons went back to work and May took a seat on of the lab stools.

* * *

After a short video call to the Headquarters and Coulson's short discussion with the person-in-charge regarding the circumstance that they'd be arriving while in autopilot, the Bus was given the clearance to land without a pilot in the cockpit.

Coulson pulled out his phone from his pocket, searched for a name that he'd grown fond of over the years in his contacts, and pressed the call button.

The person on the other end of the line picked up after three rings.

"State your name and clearance level, please."

"Agent Phil Coulson. Level 8."

For a moment, the opposite line went silent. He hears the phone being passed on to another.

"Hello, Phil. Well, my job description doesn't actually permit me to say that it's nice for you to call."

Coulson smiled. "_It's great that she's still has that harsh sense of humor intact_," he thought.

"I hope you don't have any patients today, Annie. May's got a broken arm."

* * *

A/N – OC ALERT! Get to know more of Annie in the upcoming chapters. Stay tuned.


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Much to her dismay, the hospital staff provided May with a wheel chair as she and Coulson entered the hospital's premises. A nurse then took charge of May and asked Coulson to fill out a few forms while she wheeled May into one of the clinics for a few tests before heading to the operating room.

He'd done this before. And she'd also done this before on his behalf. Not that they were frequent hospital visitors when they still worked together in the field, but for the few instances that one was admitted to the hospital, the other would be filling out the papers without eliciting any questions from the other team members. Maybe it was for a fact that both of them had known each other for years, but mostly because the two of them had already told passed on to the other the necessary medical information they be asked about in times like these.

He proceeded to the waiting area once he filled out the last of the papers. He sat on one of the blue plastic chairs. The place was quiet, with the exception of the television with the news on, and conversations of doctors, nurses, and other medical staff who happen to pass by.

Deep inside, Coulson's grateful that the waiting area was empty if not for him, because somehow it meant that no other agent was fighting for his or life on the operating table. But then, someone might be, it's just that he or she doesn't have someone waiting for the news that he or she survived. Coulson simply brushed the thought away.

An hour quickly passed by. Coulson was surprised when the team arrived, and Skye handed him a cup of coffee.

"How's May?" she asked.

"I don't know yet. The operation on her arm won't be over in a few hours, so I don't think the doctor would be coming out to tell us anything until then." Skye nodded and eased back into her chair.

A calm silence settled in the waiting room, which was from time to time disrupted by small talk between the Skye, Simmons, Fitz, and sometimes, Ward. Coulson remained quiet, with his attention shifting between the television screen and the door to the operating right at the end of the hall.

Almost two hours had gone, and Fitz told Coulson that they'd be heading down to the canteen to get some snacks.

"Do you want us to get you anything? Water? More coffee?" asked Simmons.

"I'm still good," he replied.

"Are you sure, Sir? You've been here for hours and the last thing you had was the coffee we brought you," Simmons insisted.

"Don't worry about me," he gave them a small grin, "Maybe I'll grab a bite when I'd already talk to the doctor."

As the rest of the team went off, he momentarily closed his eyes. It was only right then that he felt the fatigue. He glanced at his watch. It was almost four hours since he had brought her in and it's possible that they'd have to wait for four more until her operation's over. His eyes shifted back to the news program on the television, crossed his arms in front of his chest, sat a little bit straighter, in an effort to be more comfortable in his present seat. He began to wait again.

* * *

They found the canteen on the second floor. The canteen was small, with only about fifteen circular table lined inside, each with four plastic chairs. The four of them of them took a spot in the far left corner of the room, despite the fact that the place was empty aside from the staff.

"May wouldn't be here if it weren't for me," said Simmons, before taking a sip of her orange juice. "May wouldn't be lying on an operating table right now if, if –"

Simmons groaned.

Ward placed a hand on her shoulder. "Quit blaming yourself, Simmons. It's part of our job and sometimes we can't just avoid it. May's injury was nobody's fault.

Fitz nodded in agreement. "Ward's right, Jemma. Even if, technically, someone _is_ at fault for Agent May's injury and it's the guy who hit her do there's that."

Skye rolled her eyes at Fitz as she took a bite of her ham and egg sandwich.

"May's going to be fine," asserted Skye before taking a large gulp of her soda. "It's May we're talking about here. Don't you remember the time she broke her wrist just to save our butts when those bad guys hijacked the Bus? If she could do it, I'd say that she'd already snapped her arm back to normal like what she did with her wrists, but as completely bad-ass as she is, she's going to be fully recovered and back to flying the Bus in no time."

* * *

Coulson was starting to feel stiff. His eyelids started to feel heavier. "_Maybe I do need another cup of coffee,_" he thought, as the sleepiness slowly overcame him.

"Phil, long time no see." A woman's voice brought him back to the land of the awake.

His eyes caught sight of a person standing in front of him in green scrubs. He noticed that his team was already back and they were standing. _Why? _Coulson rubbed his eyes, trying to get rid of the urge to shut them again and go back to sleep.

"Are you guys his new team?" she addressed the three agents and Skye, and the four nodded. "Well, looks like you've got _Sleeping Beauty_ right here."

He knew that voice. _And he knew that kind of sarcasm._

"Annie," Coulson stood up and shook her hand. Annie pulled him into a quick hug, and seeing Coulson's team failure to hide their surprise in their interaction, she turned to them.

"I'm sorry that I haven't properly introduced myself yet," she flashed them a smile, "Dr Anastasia Wu, but please, _please _refer to me as Dr Annie at all times. I'm an orthopaedist-slash-orthopaedic surgeon. Nice to meet you all."

"Are you, by any way, related to Agent May?" Fitz almost immediately inquired.

Annie was a few inches taller than May, but she lacked May's muscle mass, making her leaner. They were almost of the same age, but the two of them never talk about who's older than who. Despite her heart-shaped face and high cheekbones, it's a fact that they were both aware of that there looks could easily deceive some people into believing that they were in fact, relatives, even if the reality is that they are in no way related to each other by blood.

"Aside from our friendship, which from time to time branches into a doctor-patient relationship, we're not related to each other," she replied and quirked up an eyebrow, "_or is it because we're both Chinese?_"

Skye tried not to laugh as a blushing Fitz muttered a flurry of apologies and explanations.

* * *

"How did Melinda's operation go?" Coulson asked when the two of them had separated from his team.

"It went as smoothly as an open reduction operation could go. The way her arm bones broke made us rule out giving her a closed reduction instead because it could lead some serious nerve damage in her arm."

Coulson breathed out a sigh of relief. "Do you know what room the nurses took her to?"

"Room 406. She'd still be out because of the anaesthesia, but she'd be waking up in four or five hours," Annie answered

"Thank you, Annie. Me and Mel could always count on you."

His words made her smile. "It's nothing. I'd be checking up on Mel a little bit later after I sort out a few things at the Nurses' Station. And it's nice to see you again, Phil, especially after what happened in NYC. Back in London, I just saw what happened through a TV screen, but you were there to witness it first-hand. They told me that you took a pretty long vacation after, it's good that you decided to unwind and just clear your head…"

"Yeah," something momentarily crosses his face, "I'd better go back to the team now. They were waiting with me for hours for the operation to be over. Better tell them that Mel's in her room already."

* * *

Her room was small, but the space was just enough for to fit in a small TV in once corner, a couch by the door, and a small table with chairs by the window, aside from the hospital bed.

Coulson took a look at May. While lying on the bed, deep in anaesthesia-induced slumber, she looked almost the same as usual, but paler, and of course, the sling on her arm couldn't be more conspicuous.

No one said a word for a while. Fitzsimmons and Skye found their way to the couch, and Ward took a seat on one of the plastic chairs by the window. Coulson grabbed one of the chairs and sat by the left side of her bed. The silence they shared in the waiting area resurfaced yet again in the small room while the four of them faced another round of waiting ahead.

* * *

Two hours had already passed. Coulson passed a look unto his team. Simmons and Skye fell asleep slouched against each other, while Fitz who sat next to Simmons, looked like he won't be staying awake for too long. Coulson turned to Ward. He was still awake, but the resulting weariness of the previous mission could already be read on the features of his face.

"Ward, Fitz," he called out, instantly waking Fit from his sleepy daze, "Wake up the two. It's already really late. The four of you should better head out and take a rest. And Fitz, tell Simmons to let Skye stay in her quarters for a while until I've arranged for a place for her here."

While Fitz was waking up Skye and Simmons from there deep slumber, Ward inquired "Will you be staying for the rest of the night, sir? We could ask one of the nurses to bring in another bed for you before we go."

Coulson shook his head. "I haven't actually decided yet, but I want to be here when Dr. Wu will be checking on May. And let's not bother the night shift nurses anymore. They still got a long night ahead of them."

Simmons and Skye already rose from their seats and were trying to fix their wrinkled clothes. "We're lucky that the administration isn't actually particular about visiting hours. Get some sleep and you could all return in the morning. If I remember correctly, visiting hours start by 10."

"Goodnight, AC," said Skye, and sleep was still evident in her voice.

"Goodnight, Skye."

* * *

Coulson fell asleep sitting almost immediately after they had left. He didn't want to admit it to the team, but he was tired as they were. He underestimated how exhausting it was to wait and to worry.

He woke up when he felt something was tapping against the hand he rested on top of May's bed.

"Hey," May greeted. Coulson could still hear the grogginess in her voice.

"Annie said you won't be waking up after at least four hours," He pulled his seat closer to her bed.

"So Annie was the one who did my operation? I was out before she even arrived in the operating room," May smirked. "And are you telling me to go back to sleep even if you're looking like you need it more than I do." She added.

"Not really," he replied, "I'm actually glad that you're awake earlier than Annie expected. The rest of the team were actually here a while ago, but I told them all to get some rest and just visit you in the morning."

"So why are you still here? I could manage by myself, you know. You can just come back in the morning like you just told them." He didn't reply immediately, as if he was thinking of the right words to say.

"Annie told me that she'd be stopping by tonight, so I figured out I'd be staying by then. That way if she has some important reminders about your arm, I'd be here to hear them so I can also make sure you'd be following them once you're released."

May only nodded.

* * *

Moments later, Coulson decided to turn the TV on, and the two were skimming though the available channels, hoping to find something decent to watch at the late hour.

Both pair of eyes were fixed on the screen. Neither has said a word since the previous conversation had ended but the silence was welcomed.

From the years of knowing each other, they were aware of the fact that they were not the type of people to fill the silence with pointless babble only for the sake of filling the quiet with words, especially her.

The words are gone, but it's okay.

* * *

"I'm sorry. Another patient came in hours ago. The poor guy broke his leg in three places," Annie explained as she entered the room, clipboard in hand.

Coulson turned the TV off. He and May have settled into watching a random game show that neither of them was even interested in.

"How does it feel?" Annie pointed at May's right arm.

"It still hurts, but the pain's tolerable." Answered May.

"That's expected given that both bones on your arm broke as I said to Phil a while ago. And I have to commend your pain tolerance, even if it's nothing new to _Melinda May_."

May tried not the smile in pride but failed.

"I'll still be working on the prescription for the meds you need to take." Annie jotted down a note.

"I have to remind you that it's going to be more frustrating and difficult once you get out of here. It'll be 6 to 10 weeks until that arm will be completely healed, and that time also includes rehab. Meaning, it'll be 6 to 10 weeks off duty. No flying around the planet in that plane of yours. There's no doubt that things that you could easily do before would get pretty tough."

"How many days will she be staying here?"

"Could be as long as five days, but if nothing unusual comes up, she could be out in two."

May's lips were pursed and with that, Coulson realized that the reality that it would be a while before she could return to her place in the Bus has finally sunk in.

After a few more minutes and a few more questions, Annie decided that it was already time to leave.

"I better get going. I haven't had any dinner or even lunch yet." She spun around the leave.

"Thanks again, Annie."

Annie gave him a little wave. "Don't mention it."

She stopped abruptly on her tracks just as she was already in front of the door, turning to face them again. "Before I go, Mel, you'd be needing someone to stay with you to help you with most things, like cooking or doing the dishes, while you recover. Too much movement on your right arm will be bad and could only cause complications."

"That won't be a problem, then," Coulson chimed in. "I could easily file a leave."

* * *

A/N - HELLO EVERYONE! Once again, I apologize for the long wait. I hope the length of this chapter compensates for it (twice as long as Chapter 1 see see.) Hopefully, Chapter 3 will be out this week. And if there's anything you'd want to correct, especially on the facts regarding fractures, please don't hesitate to talk to me. It would be greatly appreciated. :-)


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

MAY IMMEDIATELY SHOT him a glare once the words left his mouth. Annie, amused and slightly surprised, had both of her eyebrows raised.

"Phil, you don't have to." May objected.

"I'd have Ward take charge of the team while I'm gone. There's no need to assign another pilot to the team to take your place since everyone will be working on ground for the time being."

A sigh escaped her lips. "That was not what I meant," pointed out May.

"Then what? It's as if I haven't done this before as if you haven't done this before with me."

"I don't need any help, Phil," she stressed, "_and before was different_."

Annie raised both of her hands in mock surrender. The sudden action caused the debating pair's attention to be fixed on her.

"I guess it's really good for me to leave now and let both of you," she pointed to Coulson, then to May, "sort this out by yourselves _peacefully. _Bye."

Then the doctor walked out of the door without another word.

"It's doctor's orders, Melinda," Coulson started instantly as right after Annie had left the room. "You need someone to help you around while you recover."

She closed her left hand, forming a fist. May was starting to be annoyed.

"I can handle myself." Her tone sharp.

"That's what you think while you're still lying on this hospital bed, but it's going to be different when you're already moving around, doing what you usually, just like what Annie said. And there could be complications if you're not careful enough." Coulson explained. "It's not I'm going to be with you 24/7." He added.

Coulson resisted the urge to smile when she saw the change in her face.

She was giving in.

May adjusted herself on the bed, in an effort to make herself more comfortable.

"I'm going back to sleep," said May in a matter-of-factly tone.

"So, we got ourselves a deal, then?"

May tried to fight back the urge that was threatening to appear on her lips but failed.

"I didn't say anything." May pointed out, seeing Coulson's lips curve into a smile.

* * *

He left minutes after she had drifted back to sleep. His place was as he left it and just as he always had it – clean and organized – despite of also having memorabilia and collectibles of sorts on the shelves and on the walls.

After taking a quick shower, he had a fleeting urge to scour the fridge for anything for dinner but dismissed it. Coulson went straight to bed. He was too tired to have any dreams that night.

* * *

Morning came quickly. May's eyes fluttered open, as they were greeted by the sunlight streaming through the curtains.

She easily noticed that she was alone. Coulson's absence from his spot by her bedside made her feel quite thankful that the he didn't bother to stay the night, that he'd slept in the comfort of his own bed for the night, rather than the small couch that the room had.

May momentarily closed her eyes again and relished he early morning silence.

_If only she could do T'ai chi._

* * *

It was already pass seven when Annie waltzed into the room carrying a brown paper bag and a meal tray with her.

"Good morning," the doctor greeted.

May offered her a small smile in return.

Annie took the seat occupied by Coulson last night and placed the meal tray on May's lap. May simply watched her as she pulled out a lidded paper cup from the brown paper bag, along with a smaller paper bag and placed it on the meal tray.

May peered inside the paper bag in front of her.

Inside was a bagel.

"I assumed that you still have your coffee the same way that I do, with less sugar, of course." Annie pointed at the cup with her thumb. May took the cup in her left hand and made a small sip.

"I had to basically smuggle those in. You can say nothing about medical services in a S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital, but just like everywhere else, the food here is not that favorable."

"True," said May, before taking a bite of the bagel, and as if with authority, considering the she had have a number of meals in the hospital, as a patient and as a visitor.

"Did you already eat anything for breakfast?"

Annie nodded. "I had the same before I got in. And as if you're the type to share." The doctor's eyes darted at May's bagel, which was more than three-quarters done. "I had a hunch you'll be in the mood for some egg bagel this morning. I guess I was right. Huh."

May only hummed in approval.

"So have you and Phil agreed on the arrangement that he'd be around to help you with things while you get better?"

"Yeah, we settled on it last night." May finished what remains of her coffee.

"Well that's good." Annie fished out a tissue from her pocket and gave it to May and May wiped off any evidence of the bagel she just ate off her lips.

"When I contacted you months back to tell you that we should get some coffee some time, I didn't actually make it clear that it'd be off-duty, didn't I?"

The two ladies chuckled.

From the years of knowing each other, Annie became part of May's selected few that she could consider as her friends. Despite working in two rather different sectors of the same organization, the bond that formed between the two when the two met years before, _before Bahrain_, somehow lasted.

May wasn't the type to talk. On the other hand, Annie is _quite_ a talker. The two are set apart by a multitude of differences, yes, but they understood. That's why they work.

Annie glanced at her wristwatch. "I'd love to stay around, but my shift will be starting soon."

"Thanks, Annie."

The doctor rolled her eyes and huffed.

"You and Phil need to stop thanking me." Annie took the meal tray from May's lap as she rose from her seat.

"This is our little secret, okay?" said Annie with a wink before leaving.

* * *

Coulson walked in the room just as Annie had left, looking refreshed and well-rested. May noted his current wardrobe, a navy blue collared shirt paired with jeans. It's the most casual outfit she had seen him in months. May thought, for a man who dressed himself in suits almost every day, his present get-up suits him really well.

"Did you happen to pass by Annie? She just left."

"Yeah." Coulson reclaimed his seat from last night. "Did they bring you any breakfast already?"

"Not yet, but Annie brought me a cup of coffee and a bagel a while ago."

Coulson looked at her in confusion. "Is that even allowed?"

May shrugged, saying, "_It's not._" She looked up at the wall clock. "You're early. _Too early_. Visiting hours haven't even started yet. You should've just stayed at home and rested. Watch TV."

"Well, it's better to watch through a small TV with only a few decent channels with someone else than watch anything through a pretty nice TV by yourself."

* * *

"What if May's allergic to tulips? What if she's allergic to all flowers? I shouldn't have thought about bringing flowers in the first place, Fitz!" A frantic Jemma Simmons entered the hospital threshold with Skye and Fitz. Ward was unable to join the three as he was one of the few called upon for an emergency meeting early in the morning.

"Don't fuzz about it, Jemma. You did her physical examination once, and you said that you didn't read anything on her file about having any allergies." Fitz examined the bouquet of white tulips he was holding. "Besides, the flowers look nice."

"Fitz is right, Simmons. Don't worry about May getting allergies if she's not even allergic to anything," agreed Skye. The three stopped in front of the elevator and waited for the passengers to get out before entering. "The tulips look good and I'm sure May would appreciate it."

Simmons leaned against the metal wall once the doors were closed. Fitz pressed '4' and they were in motion.

Fitz handed the bouquet to Simmons as they were in front of the door of Room 406.

"Ready?" Skye asked the scientist as she placed the hand on the door knob.

Simmons made a nervous gulp and nodded.

* * *

**A/N – Finally, an update! Thankfully, I covered all the areas I wanted to cover with this chapter, even if it came out shorter than I expected. ^_^; Anyway, what do you think of Annie thus far? Anyway, May's coming home by next chapter, but not until BTN-4 puts on a little bit of a show. Stay posted!**


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

The door opened, and a hesitant Simmons entered the room, followed by Fitz and Skye.

"These are for you, Agent May." Simmons placed the bouquet on the white end table besides May's bed. A smile smile crept up May's face upon seeing the flowers the biochemist brought with her.

"They look great Simmons. Thank you," said May.

Relief washed over Simmons at May's words. "I'm glad you liked them. I was really unsure on what to get you because you don't seem to be a person who's into flowers at all."

The three seated themselves unto the couch they shared yesterday.

"Did Skye do any trouble at your place?" Coulson asked Simmons, who then threw a playful glare at Skye. "Well, she'd been quite a good girl, Sir, if you don't count the times that she kicked me when we were asleep."

Skye looked at Jemma with wide eyes. "_I did not!_"

"Oh you did, Skye. And I could even have bruises on my legs and my back to prove it!" The five of them shared a laugh at the two's exchange. Once the laughter died down, Skye asked May, "How long would it be before you can go back to the Bus?"

"The doctor told me that it'd be 6 to 10 weeks until I can go back to work." Skye frowned. "That's quite a long time, May. Who'd be flying the Bus until you're okay?"

"The team would be working on ground for a while, so there won't be a need for a replacement pilot," Coulson answered. "Simmons would be working with other scientists here to further decode BTN-4 and to find a cure for it in case of a possible break-out. You, Fitz, and Ward would be helping other agents locate where the other hiding places for the bio-weapon and to stop whoever's behind this."

Skye nodded. "And since I already mentioned it, I may be taking a leave some time soon to help Agent May around while she recovers. Doctor's orders. I'd be asking Agent Ward to take charge for the mean time, but I would still be working with you, if the need arises."

The three shared a look at his words, but it wasn't left unnoticed by Coulson or May, but both just chose not to say anything.

After that they drifted into a casual conversation. They jumped from topic to topic almost randomly, discussing Fitz's newest contraptions to recent breakthroughs with the BTN-4. Fitz's eyes would travel from the rest of the group to Coulson then May from time to time. It certainly feels different, seeing them in this situation. It seems that in the bounds of the four walls of May's hospital room, he felt that whatever walls the two senior agents have back in the Bus are lowered, allowing the rest of the team to peer in. It feels nice, especially with May, who has always been distant. The change could take time to get used to, not to mention the fact that Coulson was not in a suit and it was easy to conclude that his wardrobe only includes suits since it seems that he's very much fond of them, but the change is very much welcome. It feels _great_, actually, seeing Coulson and May participate in the conversation so easily.

Yeah, _he certainly can get used to this._

– _& – _

Three days passed quickly, after the three's short visit. It was decided that May was to stay in the hospital for five days just to observe how the bones in her arm were growing back to stopped by from time to time, checking up on May's arm and giving extra reminders concerning her speedy recovery. Sometimes, the doctor stays around for a while, talking with her old friends of the time allows her. There were instances that she'd brought food (_which was of course not allowed in the hospital_) for the three of them to share when she happens to drop by at the end of her shift.

"You still work too hard, don't you?" Coulson noted one night Annie visited. She only hummed in reply as she took a large bite of the slice of pepperoni pizza she brought with her. (Annie brought a paper saucer just for May because it turns out that it was hard to eat pizza when you could only use one of your hands.) "It's hard to live two separate lives, as you should know. Twice the work. Twice patient drama. But at least, twice the salary."

Just like other S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors, Annie still practiced medicine outside the agency. She has a small clinic in the city. Unlike regular hospitals that were open to the general public, the agency's own is only for those who work under it, especially agents who are injured on duty who can't afford to share information to regular hospitals. Due to it's exclusiveness, most personnel aren't always on call, so those like Annie take on patients outside S.H.I.E.L.D., under the oath that they won't disclose anything regarding there whereabouts while their off-duty.

"And it's my personal break from this norm. From time to time I actually appreciate simply helping out a little kid who broke his ankle while playing football and not some S.H.I.E.L.D G.I. Joe who was kidnapped in only-God-knows-where and got both of his legs broken while being interrogated by only-God-knows-who," she added, causing May to laugh and to always drop her pizza on her gown. May was sure that she was referring to one of Coulson's operatives in the past. The poor kid recovered, but he was also dismissed right after he was able to walk again, with certainly no more memory of any of his missions with S.H.I.E.L.D. May stole a glance at Coulson, trying to find a sign on his face that he recall the same operative she was talking about. By the way his eyebrows were raised and her eyes shone in amusement, she figured that he remembered the man well.

– _& – _

Simmons wasn't exactly used to wearing a full-body air supplied suit like was presently wearing. She could easily count with her fingers in one hand the instances she'd wore one in the Academy. There had been four. The first three cases only occurred because the professor only wanted the class to know what it felt to be in one of the suits and how to put on one in case they were placed in a situation that they'd be needing one. The last was just in a "field trip" the same professor planned out where the class observed a team of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s virologist inside their lab. The were in the lab for less than twenty minutes. But she does admit that one of these suits could have been helpful if she had one on the Bus when she was dealing with Chitauri virus that almost killed got her killed. Jemma made a mental note to make a request for two, one for Fitz, just in case.

She swiped her key card and the entrance before her opened. She stepped in the narrow hallway leading to another locked door. At least eight security cameras lined walls, which was quite a number, considering that she was, approximately, only ten meters away from the next door. She wasn't expecting any less, but she wasn't really able to imagine beforehand how the security works in one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. in-house laboratories that focuses entirely on possible bioterror weaponry.

It had took her six key card swipes, four fingerprint scans, and three retina scans before she reached the area where she would be working on the BTN-4. There were more than ten other people in the laboratory with her, all wearing the same light blue _spacesuit_ she was wearing. The only way to set people apart other than the clear portion for the face was the ID's attached to the suit.

"Dr. Jemma Simmons?" She turned to her left at the sound of her name. By the sound of the speaker's voice, she identified the caller as a woman. A person was then approaching her. When she stopped in front of Simmons, she looked at her ID. _Dr_. _Ella Winston. _The doctor's eyes also drifted to Simmons' ID for a short moment, as if checking if she got the right person.

"We already extracted the DNA from the sample you've sent us a few days before," she said. "and we discovered that BTN-4 is one-half MTB, just like you said, and one-half of its DNA is Chitauri."

Simmons wasn't able to withhold the loud "oh" that escaped her lips.

– _& – _

With May's keys in his pocket, Coulson drove down a familiar street in downtown New York early in the morning of May's last day in the hospital to get a change of clothes for her release late in the afternoon from her apartment. Standing in front of the rustic five-story building, he realized that it has been _years _since he was here.

With a key turn, he found himself inside Melinda May's house. The place had barely changed at all. The open space, the mocha-colored walls, the marble counter tops, the small circular dining table that can only have four people at most... At least she got a better TV now, even if looked like it wasn't used as much.

He suddenly missed drinking beer with her while they sat side by side on her faux leather sofa way back, but her place was still as impersonal as it was before.

He proceeded to her bedroom and went to the closet just in front of her queen-size bed. Right after she got her a white short-sleeve shirt, a pair of grey yoga pants, and black ballet flats, he opened her underwear drawer and took a matching set – dark blue cotton panties and a dark blue bra. He had to pick what he thought was the easiest for her to wear and at the same time he had to be _mindful_ enough of his choices. (He denied to himself that he caught sight of a matching black lace set.)

After putting all the items in the duffel bag he brought with him, he couldn't help but think of the next few weeks ahead of him as he locked her front door.

* * *

**A/N - I wasn't really planning to work on this any time soon but miracles happen late at night when I'm already half asleep.**


End file.
